Idyll or Nightmare
"Idyll or Nightmare" is the second issue of the Gargoyles comic by Dynamite Entertainment, and Chapter Two of the Here in Manhattan story arc. It was released on January 25th, 2023. [1] The digital version of the comic was available the week prior.
- Writer/Creator: Greg Weisman
- Pencil Artist: George Kambadais
- Color Artist: George Kambadais
- Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
- Editor: Nate Cosby
- Main Cover Artist: David Nakayama
Contents
Solicitation
The Gargoyles have awakened from their stone sleep - but will it be in time to save Maggie the Cat and her unborn mutate child from Thailog and Sevarius? Plus, don't miss the return of Dominic Dracon!
The Story
Review
The second issue of "Gargoyles" switches its narration from Elisa to Angela. (According to Greg Weisman, there'll be a different narrator for each issue.) Fortunately, the narration style here matches Angela's style as neatly as the narration in the first issue matched Elisa's.
We now learn that Xanatos brought the rookery as well as the castle over from Scotland to Manhattan - something which surprised this reader, since he'd gotten the impression from "Shadows of the Past" that the rookery had been left behind at Wyvern Hill. (It does fit the past sights of the castle atop the Eyrie Building, though, with a huge chunk of rock beneath.) At present, it hosts a single egg, Egwardo, guarded by Bronx and Fu-Dog (which explains why they were absent from the first issue). Most of the clan are excited about the egg, except for Nashville, who seems to be experiencing "older sibling rivalry", and Hudson, who points out that in the days before the Wyvern Massacre, they "left the eggs to themselves". (This new approach from the other gargoyles makes sense, though. Ever since they re-awakened in modern-day Manhattan, the clan had seen itself, until recently, as the last gargoyles in the world, with no future, no new gargoyles to continue after them. The addition of an egg, even just one, to the clan, would seem like a sign of renewed hope.) And, for a nice comic relief touch, Brooklyn gets in trouble when Katana finds out that Egwardo's name was a piece of wordplay.
Some of the clan (Goliath, Angela, Broadway, and Coldfire) soon shift their attention to another upcoming birth, Maggie's. When they arrive at the Labyrinth, however, they discover that Maggie and her midwife (Mary, in a big surprise return) have been abducted by a mysterious someone. Those who'd read the first issue will suspect - correctly, as it turns out - that the abductors were Thailog and Sevarius, after Maggie's offspring, but an angry Talon jumps to the wrong conclusion; since Owen was present when Elisa phoned Coldfire at the castle about Maggie being about to become a mother, Xanatos becomes an immediate suspect, leading to an angry Talon bursting into the castle to confront him....
To top that, Dominic Dracon has been let out (in contrast to his depiction in the "Religion 101" radio play, he's depicted as still sharp-witted, though pretending to have lost his wits after the events of "The Silver Falcon" to ensure his release), and is meeting with Tony Dracon's sister, Antoinette (a very effective new character who seems much sharper than her brother), to discuss another soon-to-be-released member of the Dracon family: Tony's uncle Dino (mentioned in the previous issue). All the evidence indicates that Dino is extremely dangerous and far less restrained than the rest of the Dracon family; even Tony is alarmed at the prospects of him being at liberty. He'll apparently become a new and deadly adversary to the Manhattan gargoyles.
The second issue continues to be well-written, capturing the cast effectively, with even a few moments of humor (not only the moment where Katana learns the truth about Egwardo's name, as mentioned above, but a delightful confrontation between Mary and Sevarius). I do have one concern, however; the evidence we have about the comic's construction is that the third issue will resolve the "Thailog kidnaps the pregnant Maggie" story (after which the comic series will move on to new stories, such as Dino Dracon at large). But there's clearly so much to come for this one - the gargoyles will need to find out that Xanatos isn't the culprit, that Thailog's the culprit, and rescue Maggie and her child, all in one issue - will there be room enough for all that in #3? Let's hope so.
Featured Characters and First Appearances
| Gargoyles | Humans |
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Tidbits
On first printing, a few pieces of non-essential dialogue were missing. Greg Weisman later tweeted the proper page.
This issue confirms that the Wyvern Clan's rookery was also removed from Scotland as part of the Castle's foundation.
Cover Gallery
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Links
| << Previous Episode: "Here In Manhattan" Chapter One: "A Little Crazy" | Next Episode: "Here In Manhattan" Chapter Three: "Miracle Child" >> |
